Our meetings:
Scouts: Friday: 19h00-21h00
Cubs: Monday: 18h00-19h30
OUR HISTORY:
THE START OF MONTE VISTA GROUP
Fifty-five years ago, September 1969 the first week of that month saw the start of Monte Vista Cub Pack. Maureen Finlay as Akela , Ingrid Loynes as Baloo and Jack Stewart as Group Scouter. We started with three Cubs – Cedric Allan (who had been a Cub before and who had moved to Monte
Vista), Dereck Finlay and Steven Whitehorn. Our meeting place was the home of the Finlays in Mostert Street. By the October of 1969 the numbers had grown. Many boys joining from other Packs as Monte Vista was closer to homes. In January 1970 Mr Goosen of Monte Vista Primary School gave us the use of a room under a school stage. The brownies and guides also moved to our new head quarters. March 1970 saw us entering our first competition The R.Don. We won the cup for the best acting . Mrs Cynthia Clayton assisted with transport and became interested in helping with the Pack, in May 1970 she joined and became a uniformed member, her title was Bagheera. In August of the same year, the Scout Troop was founded and Ray Saunders became Troop Scouter. In the September of 1970 Cedric Allan became our first Leaping Wolf and went up to Scouts. October 1970 saw us on the move again. We were given the use of the shooting range off Camoens Avenue. With the encroachment of houses it had too dangerous to use for shooting. With the effects of willing helpers it was soon fixed and fitted out. After Joe ( The Crow) Finlay our new HQ was called the “Crows Nest”. The boys had been promised that they could pass their Fire Fighting Badge when we moved and I suddenly saw a total of 29 fires on the go. Thank goodness the novelty soon wore off, as I had visions of the whole field going up in smoke. December 1970, our First Pack camp. This was helld at Gilcape and we were joined by the Parow Cubs. A total of 18 cubs attended. Around the same time Roberts, Shinton and Porter Families moved to Monte Vista and had a tremendous influence on the group. By March 1970 the Pack had grown rather large and in December 1971 we were strong enough to have our own pack camp at Gilcape. Our cooks were the Claytons with the help of Joe Finlay. The cooking was of a high standard and in notes written by the Cubs this was a highlight camp. We have continually tried to keep up this tradition. Julia Shinton was now a uniform Scouter.
1973.The highlight was the Gang Show produced y Mr Shinton in which all our Cubs, Scouts and Scouters took a apart. We now had over sixty Members.
1974. our numbers had grown and we were forced to spilt the Pack into B.P. Pack and Kipling Pack. October 1976 we saw the start of our own Headquarters being built. It only took 7 years for the committee at that time to organize the building. We obtained the ground from the Municipality on Joe Simon’s suggestion to get the Voortrekkers, Guides and Scouts together to apply. Mr Finlay took his suggestion and the land was granted to us. Due to the efforts of many, in August 1977 we celebrated the official opening of our new very own Headquarters. Yet again another celebration took place in the August of 1979 when Cedric Allan became our first Springbok Scout. To date the Group has a proud record of 44 Springbok Scouts. This is amongst the highest in the area. In September 2009, we celebrated our 40th Anniversary with 30 strong Cub Pack an equally strong Scout Troop. We are going from strength to strength as the beginning of 2012 marked the re-opening of our Rover Crew which has been dormant for the past 20 odd years. The Crew is the third branch of the movement for those between the ages of 18 and 35. A history to be proud of. We hope this will continue for many years to come.
